Trump deletes racist video depicting the Obamas as monkeys

BarcelonaIf Donald Trump had already openly stated that the only limit to his power is his own morality, he has now made it clear where he draws the line. The US president shared a video on his social media platform, Truth Social, depicting former president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as monkeys, a clear allusion to racist symbolism. Hours after sparking outrage, the president backtracked and deleted the post.

The video echoed the conspiracy theory—spread by the MAGA movement—that there was fraud in the 2020 Pennsylvania election, through unfounded claims and graphics. At the end of the clip, an AI-generated image suddenly appears, superimposing the faces of the former president and first lady onto the bodies of primates, while the song plays in the background. The lion sleeps tonight

The racist attack has sparked outrage from both Democrats and Republicans. California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement through his press office saying, "Disgusting behavior from the president. All Republicans must denounce it. Now." The Republicans Against Trump platform also condemned the video, criticizing the president for "hitting rock bottom." Senator Tim Scott—the only Black Republican in the Senate—wrote to X that he hoped the post was fake "because it's the most racist thing I've seen from this White House. The president should take it down."

"An internet meme"

The White House, however, has downplayed the criticism and called the video an "internet meme." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt offered the following explanation to reporters who asked her about it: "It's from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and the Democrats as characters from The Lion King [...] Please stop pretending to be outraged."

This is not the first time Trump has used artificial intelligence to reproduce denigrating images against his political adversaries. This summer he shared another AI-generated video in which he simulated Obama's arrestThe Democratic leader appeared in the Oval Office conversing with Trump when, suddenly, two FBI agents appeared and took him away, much to Trump's satisfaction. Several Democratic politicians also appeared, including former President Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, repeating the phrase "No one is above the law." In the background, [music] was playing. YMCA from Village People.